Jon "Bambi's Best Friend" Anderson:
>Most of the old-timers I knew down in the central Oregon Cascades country
>(deer hunters, prospectors and miners, loggers, etc.) called Gray Jays "Camp
>Robbers", and that's what I knew them as until I got my book-learning.

I didn't grow up in a hunting family, but when I began backpacking in
my teens I learned of these birds as "camp robbers" as well. I had
some book-learning at the time, but not bird-book-learning.

On my recent excursion to Wyoming (after leaving the Goshutes) I
was talking to a stranger somewhere around the Tetons, and he asked
"have you seen any camp robbers around?". I responded, "hmmm...I
haven't seen any gray jays around". He, of course, was speaking of
Clark's nutcracker, of which there were an excess.

Speaking of jays, those of you who like corvids might find the
following Goshutes list a joy: pinion jay, Clark's nutcracker,
scrub jay, magpie and raven. Not quite an in-the-site grand
slam (sorry, Russell) but not bad. I've seen more pinion jays
at this place than I've ever seen anywhere (they're a bit hard to
find in Oregon, for one thing, though I've seen them where they
belong south of Bend). Indeed, I've had the pleasure of removing
one from a mist net. And "clarkies" are a regular plague, though
an enjoyable one. But it is the pinion jays that I get a kick
out of, huge flocks of them up to about 8,000 feet or so. They
visit us at 9,000 feet in quantity once a week or so - this year
during our thunderstorm weather with resultant high winds.

We also have single-leaf pinion there, naturally - missing from
my usual southeast Oregon Great Basin haunts. And little-leaf
mountain mahogany to go along with the curl-leaf species I'm
more familiar with. And bristlecone pine.

Gee, September's just around the corner, isn't it? :)

>I can vouch for the fact that a family of Gray Jays will find a carcass
>that's been hung in a deer camp within the hour and get away with as
>much fat/meat/whatever that they can.

Well, they'll find a living carcass in moments in winter, as well - as
long as it's on cross-country skis and carrying granola or gorp! I've
never tried meat, though.

- Don Baccus, Portland OR <donb at rational.com>